53
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$5.5M
Property damage
Flash Flood in Athens County, Ohio: 53 recorded events between 1996 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #561 nationally and #17 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flash Flood in Athens County, Ohio: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flash flood in Athens County is the 2020s, when 18 of the county's 53 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Athens County archive, flash flood makes up 11.9% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #561 for this hazard and #17 within Ohio, putting it in the 81.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for flash flood in Athens County with 16 recorded events, while Oct is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2012 | NELSONVILLE | 0 | 1 | 0 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 2025 | GUYSVILLE | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2025 | HOCKINGPORT | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2025 | ATHENS | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 7, 2025 | CANAANVILLE | 0 | $0 |
| May 14, 2025 | CARBONDALE | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 18, 2024 | GROSVENOR | 0 | $500 |
| Aug 19, 2021 | ATHENS | 0 | $3K |
| Aug 19, 2021 | CANAANVILLE | 0 | $3K |
| Aug 18, 2021 | THE PLAINS | 0 | $3K |
| Aug 18, 2021 | PALOS | 0 | $3K |
Other hazards here
More from Athens County
- Thunderstorm Wind 220
- Hail 93
- Flood 69
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Flooding took place along streams in the northern reaches of the county. Some of the streams affected include Snow Fork, plus Sunday and Monday Creeks. Chauncey was one of the hardest hit areas as waters from Sunday Creek were slowed by the swollen Hocking River. Other communities that received flooding included Nelsonville, Glouster, Hollister, Trible, and Doanville. The stream flooding lead to minor river flooding along the Hocking River. The county emergency management agency listed one single family dwelling and 1 mobile home destroyed for the whole flood event. Twentyfive dwellings had major damage.
Rain amounts of 2 to 2.5 inches fell in about 2 hours. A spotter reported 1.6 inches in an hour. The 24 hour rain total was 3.5 inches at Nelsonville. The town of Athens was just south of the heaviest rain with a 24 hour rain total of 1.8 inches. Small streams flooded and closed several roads. The stream gauge at Doanville on the lower reaches of Monday Creek rose 10 to 11 feet in a few hours.
Rains of 1.5 to 2.0 inches fell in less than 24 hours, in the Nelsonville to Trimble area. The rains occurred from the 10th into the 11th. Monday and Sunday Creeks flooded roads, surrounded the most vulnerable dwellings, and forced schools to close. Backwater from the rising Hocking River kept Sunday Creek in the Chauncey vicinity, over roads and around dwellings through Thursday morning the 12th. The Hocking River crested just below flood stage, at 19.5 feet around 2100E on the 12th.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flash flood events are on record in Athens County, Ohio?
53 flash flood events are recorded in Athens County between 1996 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flash flood recorded in Athens County?
The strongest flash flood on record in Athens County measured 0.
Where does the flash flood data for Athens County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Flash Flood in Athens County, Ohio.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/ohio/athens-county/flash-flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.